LONDON (Reuters) - Living near an airport isn't just
irritating, it is also unhealthy, researchers said on
Wednesday, in a study that showed loud noise instantly boosts a
sleeping person's blood pressure.

The louder the noise, the higher a person's blood pressure
went, a finding that suggests people who live near airports may
have a greater risk of health problems, said Lars Jarup, who
led the European Commission-funded study.

"Living near airports where you have exposure to night time
aircraft noise is a major issue," Jarup, an environmental
health researcher at the University of Glasgow, told Reuters.

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"The reason we did airports is because there was no study
that has looked at particular problems of aircraft noise."

High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart failure,
heart attack and kidney failure. It affects more than a billion
adults worldwide.

The research team showed that people living for at least
five years near a busy airport and under a flight path have a
greater risk of developing chronic high blood pressure, also
known as hypertension, than those who live in quieter areas.

That study of nearly 5,000 people found that an increase in
night time airplane noise of 10 decibels increased the risk of
high blood pressure by 14 percent in both men and women.

"We know that noise from air traffic can be a source of
irritation, but our research shows that it can also be damaging
for people's health, which is particularly significant in light
of plans to expand international airports," Jarup said.

In the four-year study, published in the European Heart
Journal, the researchers remotely measured the blood pressure
of 140 volunteers every 15 minutes while they slept in their
homes near London's Heathrow airport -- one of the busiest in
the world -- and three other major European airports.

They used digital recorders to determine what noises had
the biggest impact on blood pressure, ranging from road traffic
to a partner's snoring to an airplane taking off or landing.

The Decibel level, not a sound's origin, was the key
factor, but airplanes had the most significant impact, Jarup
said.

"Most of the time you will find road traffic noise is not
too bad during the night," he said. "If you live near an
airport where there are night flights, that is quite another
story."